The Vineyards
The Commonwealth, formerly Kingdom, of Vineyards is a nation situated mostly in the southwestern corner of Frequesue Demographics The Commonwealth shows significant representation from Canissian (20%) and Shroomanian (27%), the two areas that were vital in colonizing the mountains and mountain lined valley. 30% of the Population is of the native Frequesue. The rest is a hodgepodge of Shinra, Pezookian, Shadow, and Crimson. Politics The supreme power in the Commonwealth is entrusted in the hands of the Ruling Triumvirate of a representative from Eutopia, the Vineyards themselves, and from the 'Frequesuan Territories,' a joint term for the territories not covered by the first two representatives. Ruling Triumvirate Representative from Eutopia: Brandon I, King of Vineyards, Eutopia, and Vinish Frequesue Representative from Kingdom of Vineyards: Jeffery I, Lord of Azzan, Syl, Thadon, and Sheoth, Unifier and King of the Unified Valley Representative from the 'Frequesuan Territories:' Joshua Earles, Lord Protector of the Wilderness, Head of the Earlesi Victory Council, Guerrilla Leader of the Earlesi People, Representative of the Interests of the Earlesi People Parliaments The Parliament of the Commonwealth is a Grand Assembly that meets regularly in Sheoth, but is broken down into individual meetings for simplicity and localization. Eutopian Congress Membership: 100 members *Popular Front (Socialists, Communists, Local Leftist Parties) - 76 members *National Front (Local Conservative, National Reactionaries, Religious Groups) - 23 *Nonaligned (Local Machine) - 1 Vinish Parliament House of Lords: 32 members *14 Military Officials *10 Personal Friends of King Jeffery *8 current/former City Lords House of Commons: 100 members *Popular Front (Socialists, Communists, Leftists) - 24 members *Royalist Party - 76 members History The Vinish Commonwealth, in its current state, has existed since 2015, but the area controlling the Commonwealth, and more importantly the Monarch in charge of the whole thing. Colonial The Vineyards were founded by the Shroomainian Isolationist Colonial Company (SICC) in an attempt to both enrich the great nation of Shroomainia and acquire a place far away from the constantly warring Old Continent. The Continent at the time was gearing up for the Gaymean War. The Shroomainian Government ceded SICC a small isolated Valley on the Continent of Frequesue in 1777. The Valley that would eventually become the Vineyards is bordered on either side not open to water by mountain ranges, the treacherous Mountains of Valor covering the Northern and Eastern border while the shorter Isolator Highlands act as the border between the Vineyards and the politically unstable nation to the south. Upon landing, SICC began to work on building a port on the southernmost shore, naming the port, Syl. SICC set-up mining survey teams to look for natural resources to tap. Meanwhile, in the valley, settlers were finding the ground to be very conductive of growing grapes and other fermentable plants. This discovery, along with early problems funding the survey teams, led to the colony becoming dependent on its alcohol production to finance itself. The alcohol production became so great, that a second port willed itself into existence, finally officially becoming Thadon in 1817. Sheoth was founded fourteen years later, on a city sized island in the center of the lake in the center of the valley. This prosperity would not last, though, as Greek Wines were being chosen time and time again over the “colonial slop,” leading to a collapse of the Vinish economy in 1900. By 1904, a the Shroomainian government found the colony did not meet expectations dictated by the Shroomainian Remobilization Program As such, Shroomainian recognized the Vineyards as an independent state, and withdrew armed support from that corner of the world. So, on October 13, 1904 the Vineyards became an independent nation. Post Colonial Independence was not good for the Vineyards, as the only thing that held the Colonial Government in power was the Shroomainian Armed Presence in the major ports and in the fields. As such, many of the families that grew the grapes and such styled themselves as powerful leaders, training people loyal to them into “armies” that began attacking fields around them, and in some cases, attacking towns and villages around them. The Colonial Government was without options, they looted the Treasury, and fled from Sheoth, seeking asylum in Shroomainia. It seems proper that they were attacked by pirates immediately off the coast of the Vineyards, pirates that the Shroomainian Navy had always kept at bay. With the loss of what could only be considered the voice of sanity amongst the warring families, the Civil War began to take a ridiculous turn. Spies from either Port city were both successful and caught trying to sink competitor’s ships. Offshore, pirates were hired by most families to attack rival merchant vessels, though the pirates usually didn’t care which family they hit, as even if it happened to be one of the ones that was paying them, they could always collect from another family. One of the most volatile places was the Isle of Sheoth as it had been made Capital of the colony because of its defensible position, a fact which made it a very enticing place for all of the would be warlords that littered the Vineyards. Sheoth found itself under siege, fourteen times over the course of 1925. In ’26 the citizens revolted against the occupying army, destroying that family in the process. After the battle, the citizens of Sheoth declared themselves a free city-state, which would attack any group not flying either a white flag, or one of Sheoth’s allies, thus causing Sheoth to suffer more hardships over the course of the war. The only semi-stable city was Azzan, high in the Mountains of Valour, it remain untouched from the anarchy below. The most powerful family in Azzan hadn’t stopped trading, even after the war was destroying crops below. Lord of Azzan, Thomas Michael was quick to forge an agreement with San Doradan weapons dealers, securing his city a powerful defense against the Lowlands anarchy. Large machine guns lined the cliff faces staring down the sloping road that led to the Lowlands, rarely did anyone come up the Great Road since the start of the War, but Lord Michael kept his forces ready for anything. Following the third Sacking of Sheoth in 1929, Lord Michael began to get worried, the noble houses were tearing the country apart. With a new vigor, he began planning a reinvasion of his homeland, using the troops he had on hand, and he hired many experienced mercenaries from the many campaigns to pacify the lands, the Lord of Azzan found that his forces would barely be able to retake Sheoth, let alone the ports of Thadon and Syl. Lord Michael began searching the international landscape, hoping to find a country willing to assist in his bid for the Vineyard Throne, He found an ally in the Shinra Republic. The Shinra Republic was willing to not only perform naval blockades of the two war torn ports, but also land a ‘peacekeeper’ force to assist Lord Michael in his attempt to unify The Vineyards, in exchange, Lord Michael agreed to the building of a Republican Naval base near Syl, along with a favorable trade agreement with the Republic. Lord Michael’s Agreement with the Shinra Republic sent shockwaves across the Valley, many nobles seeing this as international recognition of Lord Michael as the ruler of The Vineyards, other saw this as an attempt by a foreign country to take over the Vineyards. Many nobles believed both, fearing that Lord Michael was simply a figurehead of the Republican Government. The fears that the Vineyards would become a vassal state of the Shinra Republic were unfounded, as the last of the Republican ‘peacekeeper’ forces left the country in February of 1979. Lord Michael’s forces stormed the capital in June of 1930, after a short bloody battle Lord Michael was proclaimed King Michael, Ruler of The Vineyards in a ceremony on the tenth of July in 1930. The Republican troops in both Syl and Thadon were quickly joined by detachments of the newly created Vineyard Defense Force. All in all, the transition from anarchic state to single internationally recognized nation was not as strenuous as many had hoped or feared. Following his ascension to King, King Michael revised the foreign policy of the Vineyards, instead of being a power that remained ignorant of foreign wars, only breaking their silence to sell their wares, the King reopened ties with Shroomainia. He also opened official relations with the Shinra Republic and the Republic of Canissia. By 1970, the Vineyards had trade agreements with all of the stated powers. In the summer of ’71 disaster struck the Kingdom, as King Thomas Michael died at the age of 83, in the Royal Retreat at Azzan, his son, Crown Prince Jeffery Michael, 44, was immediately sworn in as King of The Vineyards. King Jeffery proved to be quite the step down from King Thomas, as Jeffery attempted to scale back every program meant to bring The Vineyards into the global fold. King Jeffery’s reign was marred with problems, the public had been hopeful of the programs the now dead ruler had put into motion, an isolationist stance was not one that was thought of very highly amongst the higher-ups in the government, and rumors of plans of coup d’états spread like wildfire through the valley. These were so debilitating, the King began living out of the Royal Retreat at Azzan for most of the year, in fear for his life. By 1998 the people of the Kingdom were very disillusioned with King Jeffery, this was not helped by the fact that a major antagonist of the regime was Jeffery’s cousin, Brandon Michael, 16. Brandon Michael quickly established a rapport with the populace, calling for a Senate to check the King from working against the will of the people. In December of 2007, when the King was in Sheoth giving a speech about the new tariff program, he was arrested by 37 Sheoth police officers on counts of treason and conspiracy to endanger the nation. Brandon approached the deposed monarch with a deal, he would be allowed to live in the Royal Retreat at Azzan, and in exchange he would name Brandon King of the Vineyards, and establish Senate as a check on the King’s power. King Brandon’s immediate acts as King were to formally request entrance into the Shroomainian Commonwealth, and to reestablish embassies in the Republic of Canissia and in the Shinra Republic. He cut the deposed king's programs of isolation. Modern In the Modern Era, King Brandon ruled through a Senate sweeping with the wings of change. The Senates of his first ten years were led by a conservative alliance pulling voters and Senators away from the Republican Party. The conservatives chose Walter Von Earles, distinguished statesman and former leader of the 'Constitutionalist' faction of the Republican Party, as their Prime Minster, who would lead until 2008. In that year, the Socialist Party was unbanned by royal edict, and King Brandon publically supported the Socialists and Republicans to form a coalition. This eventual coalition would come to be known as the Popular Front. They had succeeded in winning a majority, and placed Martin Black as their Prime Minister, and hopefully creating a situation of peace and prosperity for the Kingdom. Peace was not to be, however, for the Central Frequesuan republic collasped as a functional state, and the Kingdom sent troops to carve out as much of a safezone as possible for the people. The result was the eventual tranistion, along with the union between the Republic of Eutopia and the Kingdom, caused the Creation of the First Commonwealth of Vineyards. The Commonwealth also added the territory of madman-Messiah Joshua Earles, called the Earelsi Protectorate. The Commonwealth enjoyed relative peace and security trhough the crisises that followed, the Shepistani Suicide Assualt/Shepistani-World War was stopped by the Air and Sea defences, and the Coilerburg Crisises were handled by local forces, without much need for Vinish blood. This changed when the former King, Jeffery I, returned to power for a short bloody month. Jeffery's second power grasp was simple. he killed the 'traitors' of the Popular Front, or started to before things were finally stopped, and used the Army to control the populace, who was eerily quiet on the major leftist riot front. His rule was forced to loosen as Brandon and Jeffery met in Baerne to negotiate an end to the 'Sucession Problem.' The agreement ended in the forming of the Second Commonwealth, which was fundamentally more centralized in the power of the Grand Assembly and the Triumvirate. During the Coastan Crisis, the Commonwealth sent humanitarian prefabricated buildings, food, and medicine to the ailing citizenry. Armed Forces Vinish Commonwealth Army Vinish Commonwealth Navy Vinish Commonwealth Air Force Vinish Strategic Air Authority Original Page Original Post Formatted Information Page (No Longer Updated) Category:Nations Category:Nations of Frequesque Category:MESS Observer Nations Category:Player-Character Nations